Broomfield Open Space and Trails is urging residents to bring pets inside at night after confrontations with coyotes have ended in 11 pet injuries or deaths this year.

Since January, Broomfield has reported 11 attacks on small dogs that were left unattended. Of those attacks, six dogs died.

There have been no reports of human-coyote confrontations this year, and there have been no reports of confrontations between dogs and coyotes when owners are supervising their pets, according to statistics compiled last week by Open Space and Trails.

"Leaving dogs unattended is a concern," said Open Space and Trails manager Kristan Pritz. "It appears that coyotes might see dogs as a food source."

Most of the attacks occurred in the southeast neighborhoods of the city, with seven incidents occurring in neighborhoods south of Broomfield County Commons and east of Sheridan Boulevard.

Coyotes are a common sight in Broomfield, especially when the animals are active during their mating season, which continues through March.

Human-coyote and coyote-pet interactions are a sensitive subject in Broomfield.

Between mid-July and mid-August 2011, three children were attacked by coyotes in the Anthem area. None of the children were seriously injured and in response, nine coyotes were killed in the Anthem area in 2011.

Pet attacks also are not out of the ordinary. Since 2009, there have been 20 nonlethal attacks on unattended pets and 30 unattended pets have died from coyote attacks, according to city statistics.

Pritz said the best approach to living with coyotes is education and coexistence.

The city has a coexistence policy that recognizes that coyotes live in the area. It asks residents to help establish clear boundaries between humans and coyotes that can prevent attacks or unwanted confrontations.

Prtiz said the policy was crafted using scientific research, not scare tactics.

"I don't want to make it seem as if people can't even walk their dogs. That's not the message we want to send," Pritz said. "There are just some simple things people can do to avoid" confrontations, she said.

Pritz said residents can avoid pet attacks by bringing in their pets at night instead of leaving them in the yard, even if the yard has a fence.

Residents also should leash their pets when on walks. Broomfield law requires residents to keep pets on a leash.

When coyote pups in are born in early April and May, coyote parents will be on the lookout for predators that threaten their young, said Broomfield wildlife master Sheri Hoffman.

Though the young coyotes might be cute, people should never approach pups or try to take them from their dens.

"Even if pups appear to be unattended, their parents are usually just a short distance away," she said.

Coyotes are found all along the Front Range in many metro-area cities.

To shed light on coyote behavior and help humans and coyotes live more harmoniously, researchers with the Denver Metro Area Coyote Behavior Study are tracking coyote movement and behavior. The ongoing study includes Broomfield in its scope of research. One goal is to learn the best ways to interact with the animals.

Broomfield got more involved in research and response to coyotes after the 2011 attacks on children in the Anthem area.

Broomfield Open Space gets regular updates about coyote behavior from Stewart Breck, the lead researcher of the study.

Open Space and Trails coordinator Pete Dunlaevy said part of the study involves tracking four specific coyotes whose territory includes parts of Broomfield. The coyotes, which have tracking collars, shows researchers the range a coyote might roam in a typical day or week.

Recently, however, two of the collared coyotes died. One was seriously ill because of mange, while another was hit by a car, Dunlaevy said.

Researchers likely will collar additional coyotes to continue the research, but have not decided the best time to do so yet, Pritz said.

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